So when my boss offered me tickets to see Smackdown! tonight, I initially declined, because I had no interest in paying money to see, well, anyone on that roster. However, once he made it clear that they were free, and in his friends' private box, I agreed on the condition I could bring my wife. She is a mighty Funkasaurus fan.
Smooth negotiating.
So here is what happened!
No Jerry Lawler updates for the live fans.
WWE SATURDAY MORNING SLAM
Some Guy defeated Heath Slater (for the sake of own Saturday morning amusement, I told my wife his name was "Iron" Mike Sharpe)
Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated 3rd generation legend and son of Tommy Dreamer, Michael McGillicutty. Match was played out like your traditional Road Runner cartoon.
WWE SUPERSTARS
Nattie Neidhart defeated Alicia Fox with the Sharpshooter
Cody Rhodes defeated Zack Ryder in a match that went on so long I thought Chris Hero must have been involved
SMACKDOWN
Alberto Del Rio, David Otunga, and Ricardo (the latter wearing matching neckbraces) complain about the Brogue Kick, and applaud its ban. Christian joins them LIVE VIA SATELLITE to agree with them, but is cut off before he can tell his whole story. Daniel Bryan also agrees, and announces he's got a Wrestlemania Rematch TONIGHT against Sheamus. Sheamus comes out and rips off Otunga's neck brace causing further neck trauma. No sensitivity from a man causing me to go snow-blind in his presence.
Sin Cara defeated The Miz in a non-title match after blowing about a dozen different spots. He's then granted a title match THIS SUNDAY by Teddy Long, but only if Rey Mysterio and Cody Rhodes get to play too. Fatal Fourway - dig it playa.
Kane and Daniel Bryan play with their balls.
Kane squashes Kofi Kingston like a bug, and goes to inflict MORE damage, but Howard arrives on the scene and gives him the EVIL EYE of SMILING DAMNATION. Kane opts to hug it out instead. Awwww.
Randy Orton -> Tensai -> RKO -> Snore. Vickie showed up and screamed to fantastic heel heat, but I couldn't hear a word she said.
Cesaro whatever his name is beat up on Tyson Kidd and then the Funkasaurus arrived to save the day and cause my wife great excitement with the jiggling thighs of doom. Word on the street is somebody called his Momma - I'm going to guess Ernest Miller.
One chick with giant breasts pinned another.
Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan despite a strong flurry of YES chants from a biased crowd with the Tejas Cloverleaf. No sign of ADR.
Then the CAMERAS STOPPED ROLLING and Sheamus beat Alberto Del Rio also with the Tejas Cloverleaf. No Brogue Kick even though this probably would have been the time to do it, since I assume Booker T had already left and wouldn't be privy to seeing the most powerful move since the H-Bomb, which, if you'll recall, would wipe out EVERYTHING within a 10 foot radius except Mark Madden.
And finally, wrestling Newz Sites always include a headline for THINGS YOU DIDN'T SEE ON TV. So if you'd allow me:
- A returning Rodney Mack challenges, and defeats Machine Gun Kelly in a White Boy Challenge, then reforms the Playaz Club with Teddy Long and Jazz.
- Doink, Dink, Queazy, Cheezy, and Sleazy give a heartfelt tribute to their good friend, Jerry "The King" Lawler.
- Kevin Dunn is inducted into the Vince McMahon "Kiss My Ass - Diamond Membership" club.
- Howard Finkle finally ends his feud with Lillian Garcia by offering her a Santino Marella cobra sock puppet before informing the crowd they too can own one for $20 by visiting the concession stands.
- Triple H makes a difficult decision on his future, but after a 20 minute heartfelt promo, decides it would be best to keep the facial hair.
- Heidenreich takes over as lead color commentator much to Michael Cole's horror.
If I'm not mistaken, we can post spoilers if we personally attended the tapings, yes? If not, please delete this Mr. Zed.
My buddy Matt and I braved Ottawa traffic and went to the ScotiaBank Place for some Smackdown! Matt is the kind of guy who is an interesting fan, in that he's a bit more than casual but less than a smark. He'll on one hand say "I *hate* this guy, he always runs away", and I'll respond with "that's what they want, they want you to hate him because he's a cowardly heel". His favorite wrestlers are Beth Phoenix ("she's polish"), Brodus Clay ("I like how he interacts with the crowd, and the power moves), and Cody Rhodes.
DARK MATCH:
Slater vs Reigns (maybe.....didn't quite catch the name). This Reigns guy looks good. It helped Slater had good heat after "singing" Born in the USA. Reigns won with a backdrop type slam.
SATURDAY MORNING SLAM:
*Rey Mysterio pinned Michael McGillicutty in a good match. Some people (myself included) tried to get a MIS-TER PER-FECT chant going, but to no avail. To show that they're missing the boat on McGillicutty, Matt had no idea whose son he was. When I mention this his lineage, Matt immediately paid him more attention. Some great comedy bits as McGillicutty played up the height differences.
The finish came when Rey did a 619 to the back instead of the face, and did the Napoleon (shortman) Splash.
SUPERSTARS:
*Natalya defeated Alicia Fox via the SHARPSHOOTER. Big pop for Natalya. A good match, with several Sharpshooter attempts. When she finally got it applied, a good pop.
*Cody Rhodes pinned Zack Ryder via Cross Rhodes in a solid match. Crowd was behind Ryder, but if you check this on the webs see if you can hear a solid chant for Cody Rhodes. Very polished match, both of these guys do great work. Also a nice little thing; Rhodes now does the drop down uppercut, the on the ropes crotch kick, and attempts the Alabama Slam. A nice nod to his brother and former partner.
SMACKDOWN!
- Alberto Del Rio, Ricardo and David Otunga started things off with a promo. Ricardo complained of the pain, and thanked those who were helping him with a tearful speech. Otunga spoke some, then Del Rio showed a highlguht from NoC last year when Christian got Brogue'd. This set up a video from CHRISTIAN who was in an sling. Christian said he hated Del Rio, but admitted his career has not been the same since being Brogue'd, thus banning the move was right.
I want to go on the record saying this reminds me of when ECW banned the chokeslam. It's getting the Brogue over in a huge way, and when he can use it again it'll get a huge pop.
Then came the man who I bought my ticket for, #YES #YES #YES #YES. Daniel Bryan came out to a HUGE reaction. Everyone was doing the #YES. Goat face chants started too. It's unreal how over Bryan is. Matt likes how Bryan interacts with fans and gets the fans involved.
Sheamus eventually came out to a good pop and laid out Otunga via the "drop from the apron and hurt a dude's neck/throat" move.
- There are some things you need to see in person. Among them is seeing the reason why Sin Cara was moved to Smackdown. At least five botches (with one involving Cara trying to stomp on Miz's hand and/or foot, and nothing was there), including the ending. And I think that got botched TWICE, so if you see the first take be shocked that it was the better of the two. Unreal. Even Matt noticed the botches.
- Kane beat Kofi with a chokeslam. A typical Kane match in the sense that even now when paired with a good worker, a good match will happen. Why Kofi is always stuck in the tag division, I have no idea. Matt says that he thought Kane came across better in TV, I thought he was fine live. Again, Kofi is outstanding.
- Randy Orton got a huge pop, and defeated Tensai with the RKO. It took a try or two, but myself and a couple of others did get an ALBERT chant rolling.
Vickie came out and apparently cut a promo. I say "apparently" because I will need to watch on Friday to see what she actually said; her mic was live but the heat drowned her out. Easily THE biggest heel reaction of the night. Orton was genre savvy enough to point out "you're distracting me" and was able to stop Dolph before a sneak attack.
- At some point a segment with Miz, Rhodes, Rey, and Cara will result in Teddy Long saying a Fatal Fourway will happen. A hilarious moment; something along the liens of "you don't get title shots by POINTING" (Rhodes to Cara, because Cara only points and never speaks). Rhodes is awesome.
- At some point Cesaro will come out and complain about the whole Battle Royal thing. Tyson Kidd will come out to a decent pop and tell him to shut up, Cesaro will then dispose of him and ask if anyone else wants to say something. Queue the disco ball, and Brodus and Kidd take out Cesaro. Kidd then does the dino dance with Brodus, making Matt happy.
- Kaitlyn defeated Beth Phoenix via a reverse DDT, which looks like is going to be her finisher. I find Kaitlyn attractive. Actually, I find her the most attractive woman in the WWE. And you know what? The march was decent! I didn't notice any botches at all, which is saying something in comparison to the fellow I mentioned above.
- Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan with the Texas Cloverleaf. I could watch these guys wrestle all day. Again, Bryan is quite over. Great crowd reactions throughout. Hard hitting match, with some solid moves.
Over all, a positive night! A few times we did some JERRY chants.
Top Heel Heat:
- Vickie. - Daniel Bryan - Del Rio. - Vickie (seriously). - Slater got some good heel heat.
Top Face Heat:
- Orton - Sheamus - Daniel Bryan.
I had a great time, and despite them being sold out of YES and NO shirts, I will definitely go again if one comes to town!
So what we've learned is that Canadians love Brodus Clay.
I will guess the dark match dude was ROMAN Reigns, the former Leakee of FCW/NXT. He's an Anoa'i (uncle Afa, father Sika, much older brother Rosey) but I don't believe he's playing a Samoan in his current incarnation....?
Originally posted by CRZSo what we've learned is that Canadians love Brodus Clay.
Apparently yes!
Also small note; a good amount of Dolph shirts in the crowd.
Originally posted by CRZI will guess the dark match dude was ROMAN Reigns, the former Leakee of FCW/NXT. He's an Anoa'i (uncle Afa, father Sika, much older brother Rosey) but I don't believe he's playing a Samoan in his current incarnation....?
Roman Reigns sounds about right. And no Samoan-type character.
Oh, and in an unrelated note; this kid in front of me had his hair EXACTLY done like Sheamus. I mean, this kid was seriously an eight year old version of Sheamus. During the dark match main event, one of the concessions people dropped by and gave the kid a free Sheamus cross thingy, and a free foam WWE spinner belt. A very nice gesture!
Since Sin Cara has been brought up in this thread I may have figured out the root of his heavy botching. Basically it centers around his mask particularly the mesh where the eyeholes are. I was recently wearing and old Misfits hood around the house that I bought years ago. It's one of those hoods that zip over the head and face. The face, when fully zipped, have black mesh that is thick enough it prevents others from seeing your eyes underneath.
I can see, but the mesh and the small holes limit my depth perception and peripheral vision quite a bit. Also it moves around whenever I turn my head and I have to adjust it quite a bit which I notice Mysterio and Sin Cara do quite often. Mysterio is fine seeing as he has plenty of room around his eyes and no material an inch from his eyeballs. Sin Cara unfortunately has a mask similar to my almost bondage like Misfits hood which is horrible for depth perception. If you watch his Mistico matches with his old open eyehole mask, it's like watching a different person.
I don't know if he is scared to speak out about it but unless Sin Cara gets a more traditional open luchador mask, he'll always look terrible in that ring.
So, its another Smackdown where nothing really happened. Has Sheamus even lost a match since Mania? I am a little surprised to see him last this long with the belt, but when the choose is Del Rio, I can see why. The fatal fourway at NOC sounds like it could be amazing or a total train wreck.
The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
Originally posted by CruelAngel777I don't know if he is scared to speak out about it but unless Sin Cara gets a more traditional open luchador mask, he'll always look terrible in that ring.
But then he wouldn't be Sin Cara ("Faceless"). That's his name!
Kaitlyn and Beth Phoenix put on an interesting match. They're probably the two strongest Divas and they really tossed each other around in there. And then Kaitlyn put Beth away clean with the Slop Drop and I laughed.
@CMPunk
“@ZackRyder: @CMPunk She played me bro” I got your back.
Sorry for not getting a proper recap thread up, I'm moving this weekend and haven't even had time to watch the show. We may never know what Vickie had to say!
Kaitlyn and Beth Phoenix put on an interesting match. They're probably the two strongest Divas and they really tossed each other around in there. And then Kaitlyn put Beth away clean with the Slop Drop and I laughed.
I liked that Cole pointed out that Kaitlyn is probably the only diva who can match strength with Beth, then said that she still needed some seasoning.
We've seen Dr. Shelby freak out once before.. And the way he made Kane & Bryan patch up again (while pushing their balls) ... does anyone get an insane vibe from this guy? Like at some point he'll start cackling and point them at people he wants destroyed?
No Survivor Series matches! Instead of the undercard matches, wouldn't it have made more sense for some combos like... Jeff Hardy/Bubba/Spike/Goldust vs. 3 Minutes/Rico/Test Snow/Maven/Dreamer/Hurricane vs.